Woodbridge has long been poised for growth, but it just hasn’t happened yet.
The area is the densest neighborhood in Prince William County. It’s located on the Potomac River, along Interstate 95, and it’s got access to major transit options like Virginia Railway Express, OmniRide, and the E-ZPass Express Lanes.
While work to widen Route 1 from Neabsco Mills Road north to the Occoquan River continues in phases, residents this week gathered at the Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community College to share ideas of how they would like to see the neighborhood develop.
The charrette was similar to another meeting that occurred in the latter part of the last decade, where again, we were talking about attracting growth and development to the area. The meeting comes as the Prince William County Planning Department aims to update the county’s comprehensive plan.
So, what type of development is right for Woodbridge? Prince William County Planner Rebecca Horner says:
“Well, we have design guidelines adopted for the Potomac communities those…and we adopted those or we developed those in 2014. There are lots a visual guide, and you can see what the visual preferences are. The county’s comprehensive plan also includes smart growth strategies, and that calls for compact, walkable mixed-use development. So what that is going to look like in North Woodbridge is vertical mixed-use at high densities. You would see structured parking versus surface parking, for example. [The five-story Rivergate condominium complex on the Occoquan River] is a great example. So I would expect to see development like that but closer to the street, and integrated vertical mixed-use. Rivergate is residential only, but I would expect to see new developments to incorporate first-floor retail, potentially office, and residential in the same structure.”
The Woodbridge charette was held over the course of two days. Teams were divided into five groups to discuss everything from land use to architecture.
Horner said:
“We have about six hours of work that we’re trying to get through. Yesterday we focused on developing action strategies based on strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats. People were divided into tables so that each table would serve and function as a team. Each table has either architect or landscape architect who are sketching these ideas and help to facilitate, and also a staff member from the planning office to help facilitate and guide the discussion. The second day of the charrette they’re working on exercises to actually lay out the plan so they’re going to take their action strategies and goals and objectives that they worked up yesterday during discussions, with the same team they worked with yesterday, and actually, are drawing plans out today….They’ll be presenting these plans and we’ll be working to find consensus and opportunities to coordinate their five plans.”
For western Prince William County residents, a similar charette for the Route 29 corridor is planned on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2018, as that area of the county continues to grow. It will take place all in one day as opposed to taking place over two days as it did in Woodbridge.
The Route 29 corridor charette is scheduled to take place in the cafeteria of Ronald Regan Middle School, located at 15801 Tanning House Place in Haymarket, from 9 to 5 p.m.
